Learn about Japan’s Gold Medal Hopefuls! We had big plans to introduce you to National Foundation Day, but then we realized that the Olympics start today! So we pulled a 180 and decided to introduce you to some of Japan’s biggest Gold Medal hopefuls! You don’t want to miss today’s episode, as you’ll be seeing these athletes on TV this week!
This entry was posted on Saturday, February 11th, 2006 at 6:51 am and is filed under Japanese Culture Classes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
20 Responses to “Japanese Culture Class #6 - Japan’s Gold Medal Hopefuls!”
japanesepod101.com says:
February 11th, 2006 at 7:26 am
皆さん、こんばんは！ Some of you might have seen Jyoji Kato, speed skater who set the world record in the men’s 500-meter event at the World Cup in the US last November, carrying the flag for the Japanese Winter Olympic Team. He is among the atheletes we talk about today! 
This week’s JCC vocab track will be released next week. Apologies for the any inconvenience.
In today’s dialogue we talk about Emperor Jimmu, and we cite the date 660 BC. It should be noted here that there is actually no proof or evidence regarding this date cited by Japanese scholars. This topic is a very, very touchy one, and one that we will go into more detail in a soon to be released PDF. The short version for you is: The book with the reference to these events and Japanese history is called Nihonshoki (日本書紀）a historical book that includes mythological stories, as well as contempary events and was written well after 660 BC. Very, very complex stuff! Probably should have struck the sentence from the show and saved us a 10 page report!
よろしくお願いします。
Nathan says:
February 11th, 2006 at 8:38 am
This sounds like a fun show!
And how much fun would it be if we only talked about uncontroversial matters? What a boring world it would be! 
I look forward to the vocab track, and I think I speak for (almost?) everyone when I say there is no inconvenience! Thanks again for all of the great work!
Nathan says:
February 11th, 2006 at 9:14 am
Well I’ve given into Peter-san’s temptations, and now I’m carrying it over to Culture Classes as well
Great show! The 頑張れ part was pretty funny, and Sakura provided some pretty good laughs this time 
Also, I’m going to have to disagree with Kazunori-san this time and go with 村主章枝 
Peter says:
February 11th, 2006 at 10:08 am
Nathan-san, yes, Sakura got me good! And the 頑張れ part I enjoyed that one! However, it was only after the shoot involving 500 people screaming simultaneously, a drummer and me lacing up my old skates that I found out about free sound effect files.
Glad you liked it! I enjoyed it too!
piculum says:
February 11th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Spent some time searching them, so, to possibly save somebodies time,
here they are (or at least so says Google):
Andou Miki (Mikiti):
http://inet01.ymdtv.jp/~shogun/andou%20miki001.jpg
Arakawa Shizuka:
http://www.china.org.cn/images/107662.jpg
Suguri Fumie:
http://www.oei.co.jp/~ikumi/99NHK_nagoya/fumie_fs_big.jpg
Harada Masahiko:
http://www.canoe.ca/SlamNaganoGalleryImages/feb15_8.jpg
Could not find Jyouji Katou, however…
Sakura says:
February 11th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
Hi Nathan-san, thank you for your encouraging comments!
スキージャンプの原田、やってくれちゃいまいしたね・・・。
I just heard “bikkuri” news that Harada was disqualified for using too long skis for his weight. He only needed 200 g more!! 
Peter says:
February 11th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
Sakura-san! Thanks for the update! Wow! That is shocking! 
I wonder how they caught him!! Offical ski weigher?? Do that have that job?
Jonas-san, please tell your fellow citizens to leave some medals for the rest of the world!
Nathan-san, 村主章枝 seems quite the choice for a medal. I am not sure, but I believe that it was just me that didn’t choose 村主章枝. However, in the end, I will have correctly predicted the ALL the winners thanks to the wonderful world of editing. So be sure to relisten to this podcast after the olympics are over for a complete list of winning predictions!
Jonas says:
February 11th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
Peter-san: Hehe, I’ll see what I can do. But norway is usually quite strong in winter sports, and they all like to win…
As for predictions; norway is gonna take a medal in all major events, and atleast 5 gold in the different cross country variations!
Jonas
Jonas says:
February 12th, 2006 at 12:19 am
By the way, google gives more hits when seaching for 建国記念日 than 建国記念の日. Wikipedia says 建国記念の日, but 建国記念日 feels more natural… both for me and my gf. Are both ok to use? What is the official name?
Thanks,
Jonas
Sakura says:
February 12th, 2006 at 5:15 am
Hi Jonas-san,
ほんと！ノルウェーはメダル総なめかもしれませんね～
As for 建国記念の日, I used to say 建国記念日 as well 
But the official name is 建国記念の日, and this の seems to have been put in purposefully to show that it’s a supposed date, rather than a date based on a specific historical event.
You can find a passage about use of 「の」 in the names of national holidays here, if you are interested.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%98%AD%E5%92%8C%E3%81%AE%E6%97%A5
But in general conversation, the date is often referred to as 建国記念日 as well.
Jaane!
Nathan says:
February 12th, 2006 at 5:31 am
Peter-san,
I was talking about the most かわいい
That’s unfortunate about Harada, but it did conjure up a silly image in my mind of a tiny person with ridiculously long skis on
It’s even cold in Texas this morning! I hope you’re all staying warm in Tokyo!
Nathan says:
February 12th, 2006 at 5:35 am
Sakura-san,
Regarding your last comment in the previous post, it’s simply that you’re effortlessly elegant, ne?
チャナン says:
February 12th, 2006 at 5:43 am
Great lesson! I’m so looking forward to watching men and women figure skaters competing this time. It’s such an exciting event! I am a figure skater myself, except I’m not quite sure about hitting a quad jump…. 
Jonas, are there any famous figure skaters from your country? I think athletes from any participating countries all like to win 
Ganbare!
Jonas says:
February 12th, 2006 at 5:51 am
Sakura-san: Thanks for the wikipedia link. Just read it. Very interesting!
Chanan, sorry to disappoint you but no famous figureskaters in norway now 
We had like one… in the late 20s and early 30s. Like 70 years ago (Her name was Sonja Hennie). Norway shines in crosscountry events 
Jonas
Sakura says:
February 12th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
Nathan-san, souka, elegant dakara ne! Hehe, sore wa naikedo, arigatou gozaimasu
ヨーナスさん、「の」の話、面白いですよね。私もあまり詳しくは知らなかったので、すごく勉強になっちゃいました
チャナンさん、フィギュアスケートされるんですね～。カッコイイ！ I can’s skate, but I love watching figure skaters. They are so kakkoii!
Steve says:
February 13th, 2006 at 2:44 am
Mmmmmm! Seeing as I am not the biggest fan of the Olympics, I guess I was disappointed that you did not cover National Foundation Day in more detail. But I still enjoyed the show.
ごめなさい。Sorry! don’t mean to be negative, as it was still a good show.
O-genki de
Steve
René Malenfant says:
March 31st, 2006 at 9:21 pm
Just a note in case anybody is wondering how Japan fared in the Olympics, Shizuka Arakawa won Gold in Women’s Figure Skating, and that’s it.
Although this year was particularly bad for them, they tend to do much better in the Summer Olympics. They won 37 medals in 2004.
…OoO Olympics
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Category: Japanese Culture Classes |
Topic: Olympics
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